Rouge Powers
by PuzzleRaven
Summary: When everyone in Brockton Bay is a rouge, it is hard to be sanguine about the situation. There will be some scarlet faces before this ruddy situation is sorted out.


At her mother's shout, Glory Girl rolled out of bed and staggered half asleep to the shower, wishing for fifteen minutes more in bed. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, as the shower steamed up the glass, vaguely yelling something placatory back. No matter what mom said, school was not an emergency. It wasn't until she was toweling her hair dry that what she saw in the mirror registered. Then she screamed.

Her blonde hair, her eyes, her skin, even the towel she was wrapped in... all of it! She wasn't golden anymore.

"Mom!" She pulled her costume on, watching it change as she did. It was no relief to see the towel change back as she dropped it on the bed. Her watch…oh no, even her make-up- She slammed the door open and flew down the stairs. Screw the rules about flying in the house, this was an emergency. "Mom, I-" she stopped. FlashRose, Reddish, and Pinkacea were in the hall. They already knew.

###

Director Piggot, in a fetching cerise suit that did not match her day-glow pink complexion, looked around the table.

"So what do we know about this situation?"

"The effect occurred some time between two and three a.m." Armsmaster reported, manly chin set firmly under his electric pink helmet. "We haven't narrowed down a single point or time of origin. The effect was quite well spread when it was reported."

"Initial reports were dismissed by Brockton PD due to the source." Piggot scowled. She would expect a good explanation. "It was brought to Protectorate attention after Assault and Battery encountered and reported the effect while engaging opposition. The villains retreated in confusion, so it is unlikely to be their doing."

"Where was it first observed?"

"In Merchant territory. Squealer and Mush were present but not visible. Skidmark was the first obviously affected."

"Did he say anything notable?" Battery looked at Kid Win and the Wards, who looked innocent. And interested. Piggot saw the look and scowled. "Leave out the profanity." Battery nodded, her eyes scanning the paper slowly.

"I'm..." the pause stretched as her eyes moved over a few lines. Then it stretched further. "...white." she finished finally after a further pause.

"Anything else?"

"If I leave out the profanity? No."

"And you did not pursue?" Piggot said pointedly.

"We thought we'd better report this in," Assault said, suit unchanged, although the shock of burgundy hair clashed horribly above the visor.

"Ma'am we were in the middle of a residential area, our backup had not arrived, and we could not engage Skidmark, Trainwreck and Squealer without an unacceptable risk of civiliian casualties," Battery said formally. "We secured the area, arrested the unpowered Merchants during their support and isolated the limpet mines Squealer's tank had been firing, prior to handing control of the scene to Ms. Militia and retreating to file our report." Piggot settled, unable to fault their report.

"There are no detectable nanite activities. I have examined clothing while worn and after removal." Armsmaster continued stoically. "There is no detectable difference to my instruments. I requested Dragon assist with my research, but even when attire is donned on camera, the colour change is visible, but remains the only detectable difference.

"Did you try it slower?" Assault suggested. Armsmaster continued with the even tone of a man far too used to his co-worker's bait.

"Speed did not produce a notable difference in the speed of colour change. It seems once the wearer considers the clothes worn, and they are in some form being used as apparel, the colour changes. While it began with parahumans, it seems all citizens are now equally affected."

"Is it only people?" Assault asked. Battery gave him an odd look and he shrugged. "Some people put coats on pets."

"A good point. The colour shift has been observed in only certain creatures, and manifestations of powers, such as Parian's dolls. "

"So what about animals controlled by parahumans?"

"Unknown. I have been unable to find volunteers outside Brockton Bay prepared to visit as test subjects. However a large number of pink insects and arthropods have been reported in the vicinity of Winslow High School and near the Docks. Possibly the culprit testing their technique."

"Then that would be a good place to start looking for a culprit," Piggot said, standing up to signal the briefing was over. "I am instituing full quarantine on the city until we know what effects this has, and how to reverse it. I'm requiring double shifts until this unknown effect is isolated and resolved. Do I have to tell you how destabilising this could be?" Assault grinned widely across the table, turned to his wife.

"So, how are the Empire taking this?"

"I don't know," Battery said, deadpan, "but I'd pay good money to find out."

###

The steel spike grew out of Kaiser's hand, plated perfectly in rose-gold. The man with the cerise dreadlocks, skin a delicate blush of misty dawn, glared.

"The improvement to your complexion has not improved your standing. Sit somewhere else." Skidmark glared at Kaiser and stepped towards the seat anyway. A forest of spikes grew from it, the chair twisting and rising as the metal pushed it away from the floor. Muttering, Skidmark and the merchants retreated to one of the Somer's Rock booths, the more fore-sighted Trainwreck scooping up a couple of Kaiser's snapped-off metal blades with a grunt. Tattletale's eyes widened slightly as she worked out the weight. If only Rachel had been here with her dogs to grab some, but Bitch wasn't taking their changed status so well.

"Whoever is responsible for this, the Empire 88 will not stand for it. Reverse this disgrace now, and you may live." Kaiser's tone rang out commandingly as he swung the blade round the table, indicating all present. If that really was gold, it was more of a threat to the economy than anyone present.

"I suspect if any of us were responsible, we'd be proclaiming it, not putting a bounty on whoever was responsible." The voice came from the seat everyone was carefully not looking at. "Unless it was an unexpected side-effect. I note Uber and Leet have not arrived."

Tattletale tried not to look across the table. A skintight body suit hid little. A skin tight body suit in pale pink, it turned out, hid far too little. They'd all been grateful when he sat down, although the curious may have tried to narrow down his religion somewhat.

Bad girl, she was not thinking that.

"It wasn't any of the established factions," she said, and had their attention. She focused on Kaiser. Why not give the man the attention he wanted and save herself the sight of her boss? The throne he sat on had blades made of tastefully gradiated shades of metal. He'd been practicing. How long had the E88 leader had spent this morning just growing metal in a warehouse? If it was real gold, a war-chest like that could spell trouble.

"How could you know that?" Kaiser said. "You cannot be sure."

"Secret identities," she said. "It affects the heroes more than us, but with such unique hair and skin colours, anyone who does not have a full body-concealing outfit may be easily outed during this period. Also, the PRT have considered this." Trickster took a drag on his cigarette as coils of pastel smoke curled up round his heliotrope hat. The only other Traveller present, Genesis, was hiding beneath the table in their booth. Two eyes glared from the darkness, but they weren't exactly sinister in salmon pink.

"The unwritten rules - " he started.

"Don't apply to unpowered humans with a grudge," Grue interrupted, his cherry armour surprisingly grim. Red was a good look for him. Tattletale nodded.

"Or government organisations that don't officially know, but co-incidentally want to make your life hell anyway." The faint twitch was from Purity of all people, not Kaiser as she expected. A government job? No, someone that she cared about. Flying Blaster or not, Purity had to be afraid she'd be outed. The coloured glow was a lot easier to look at than her normal white blaze, and the villainess would have to be worried about photo filters.

"So anyone in costume that's not fully concealing can be expected to remain in costume for the duration," Kaiser said thoughtfully. The twins, Fenja and Menja, shifted behind him.

"The heroes have been captured on camera in costume since the… change. So we can expect a a greater level of Protectorate activity, since they cannot return home without outing themselves." Coil said, hands folded in front of him.

"Therefore the presence of a costumed villain should not necessarily be taken as a threat," Kaiser said. "I would suggest a truce until this is resolved to prevent…misunderstandings."

"I see no need for such a truce," Lung said truculently, the clashing mix of high-coloured tattoos standing out against his puce skin. Lisa's eyes hurt looking at him.

"Typical of-" The glowing red woman seated by Kaiser snapped.

"Shut up, Stoplight." Lisa really wished Squealer, currently redefining the term 'scarlet woman', would shut up before she said the words Tattletale could see her planning. Pointing out that Purity looked like something that should be standing in a window in the Merchant's district wasn't going to end well. Tattletale's own bodysuit, a bright crimson that clashed with her newly fuschia hair and acted like a bullet magnet, wasn't much better.

"There is some good news from the PRT," Coil said, before Squealer could continue. While good news was welcome, Tattletale really wished it was anyone else giving it. Purity folded her arms and stared resolutely at the wall. "It seems the effect ends if an individual leaves Brockton Bay's city limits. However, new entrants to the city are immediately affected."

"With the quarantine, that's no fucking use," Trainwreck mumbled. Kaiser spoke over him.

"Are there are long term effects?"

"Unknown. My contact says they have volunteers under observation and experimentation to attempt to identify the cause." _Has experimental subjects of his own_ , Lisa's power informed her unhelpfully. She could guess that. "But as far as we can ascertain, for the foreseeable future everyone in Brockton Bay is rouge."

 _Author's Note: Yes, someone offered a writing prompt of "eveyone in brockton bay is a rouge"[sic]. Yes, it was an obvious typo. No, I don't care._


End file.
